Popular Festivals

Roy Harper is set to release his new album 'Man And Myth' through Bella Union on September 23rd.

Always treading his own path, Roy Harper doesn't quite fit into any available box. Finding his voice during the folk boom of the 60s, his career has spanned time and tide until his recent semi-retirement to rural Ireland.

The past few years, though, have represented something of a renaissance for the songwriter. Lauded by a new generation, a tribute album assembled by Jonathan Wilson saw the West Coast songwriter strike up a friendship with Roy Harper.

Inspired to begin writing new music again, the English maverick flew out to Wilson's Laurel Canyon studio to begin work on an album. The results will be available later this year, with Bella Union set to release 'Man And Myth' on September 23rd.

Musing on his return, Roy Harper recently opened up about his renewed interest in songwriting after years devoted to poetry, prose and essay writing. "I was inspired to write again around 2009, by many of the younger generation finding me and asking, who are you? But it’s also been those of my own generation, who said they’d never bothered to listen to me until now, but in the process of looking for something else they might like, they’d found me, and some said they now knew why they’d kept hearing my name."

"Good for your confidence when things like that happen" he insisted. "I wrote ‘The Stranger’ round about that time (2009), and then fell into what turned out to be another long song. I'd picked up the guitar after a long break, and this song started to engage me with different tunings and ideas, and suddenly I was off to the races again."

'Man And Myth' is set to be released on September 23rd. Tracklisting:

1. The Enemy
2. Time Is Temporary
3. January Man
4. The Stranger
5. Cloud Cuckooland
6. Heaven Is Here
7. The Exile